"The Cursed," or previously known as "Eight for Silver," is the newest film in the dying genre of werewolf movies. And it's a "ruff" one, har har. I've spent the last two hours trying to think of an opening for this review, and that's what it was; believe me, I'm as disappointed as you are, but not as disappointed as you will be if you go watch "The Cursed."
Annoyance and anger are the two primary emotions I am feeling at this moment, not necessarily because "The Cursed" is a bad movie but because it seems to almost purposefully and systematically sabotage itself, especially since it starts so promisingly. With a surprising opening scene akin to "1917," this horror film begins by portraying the horrors of war. It's a brief sequence, but it's effective in its restraint. And, it looks absolutely incredible, as does a large majority of this film. From a visual perspective, "The Cursed" is a 9 out of 10; from stunning vistas to breathtaking wide shots and long takes, I haven't been this simultaneously impressed from a visual perspective and disappointed from a storytelling viewpoint since "A Cure for Wellness." Shortly after the gripping opening, there is an absolutely enthralling scene of genocide, for lack of a better word (perhaps extermination is a more apt description) - taking place entirely in one long, wide shot, with the swelling, haunting score playing in the background, this movie almost immediately had me under its trance. Unfortunately, after those two scenes, the movie switched gears and became, basically, a prescription strength Ambien.
"The Cursed" is confusing. With such clear competency behind the camera, bizarre visual choices threaten to induce a serious case of whiplash. Through and through, the film looks fantastic - so when it doesn't, it is all the more jarring. Some scenes have a weird, ugly Vaseline sheen on them that will make you think you're watching an Asylum picture. Also, certain sequences of werewolf action are filmed with some of the worst shaky cam I've scene since "Taken 3," and I'm not even joking; at points the camera is shaking so heavily, and with such ferocity, that I wouldn't be surprised if they hired a real epileptic as cameraman. When it comes to editing, there is a large amount of fade and cut to blacks; while this isn't necessarily a negative, it became very noticeable, and thus, distracting, as practically every five minutes the movie would employ this editing technique - it's completely overused.
The quality and care of the cinematography is juxtaposed by numerous silly looking visuals and special effects. For example, when the werewolves show up, you're going to start to wish that they didn't because of how unconvincing they look. The CGI is poor, and to be blunt, they don't look scary (or even cool or unique). There is also just some cheesy looking special effects throughout, such as when one character puts on a pair of silver teeth; the movie makes an attempt to show said character act unhinged and possessed, but it just looks goofy, and in fact, people in my audience laughed.
I could go on and on about the visuals, so let's make a shift to storytelling. The story of "The Cursed" is simple enough - a werewolf curse plagues a town, and a man is sent in to deal with it (that's the long and short of it, anyhow). The trouble is, "The Cursed" moves at such a snail's pace that you will literally not care about what's happening, why it's happening, or who it's happening to. This movie is so unbelievably slow, filled with such horrendously boring conversations, that I nodded off more than I have in any movie in recent history. Another thing that took me out of the movie were the massive, and I mean astronomical, mental gymnastics that characters had to do to get to some, potentially correct, plot conclusions. For example, after finding the set of silver teeth, one character inexplicably, without explanation, believes that the silver used in the teeth is the exact same silver that was given to Judas when he betrayed Christ. What? Where did that come from? At first I thought maybe I fell asleep and missed an explanation, but toward the end of the film another character reiterates that they believe the silver is Judas' blood money. It's such a stupid, unnecessary plot point that goes exactly nowhere.
And while I'm complaining, I'd also like to say that the random scene of nudity rubbed me the wrong way. While I enjoy the female form as much as anyone, there is a completely meaningless scene where the camera lingers on the side profile of a naked woman. This scene takes up about 60 seconds or more of screen time, and serves no point; it could've absolutely been removed entirely from the film, just like the four or five dream sequences that plague this movie. Why are horror films still including dream sequences? No one likes them, they aren't interesting, and unless you're James Wan, they aren't going to be done well - and all of that is true here. There are an absurd number of boring, predictable, useless dream sequences that drive the story to a halt, depleting what little momentum the movie had going for it.
I think I'm done writing at this point; I'm hungry, tired, and sober - a horrible combination. The gist is that this movie is so disappointing because of how much competence there is behind it, but a movie can't stand on good visuals alone. "The Cursed" suffers from cheap looking special effects, poor, slow pacing, and a contrived, uninteresting plot. In conclusion, watch "Cursed" with Christina Ricci instead.
Annoyance and anger are the two primary emotions I am feeling at this moment, not necessarily because "The Cursed" is a bad movie but because it seems to almost purposefully and systematically sabotage itself, especially since it starts so promisingly. With a surprising opening scene akin to "1917," this horror film begins by portraying the horrors of war. It's a brief sequence, but it's effective in its restraint. And, it looks absolutely incredible, as does a large majority of this film. From a visual perspective, "The Cursed" is a 9 out of 10; from stunning vistas to breathtaking wide shots and long takes, I haven't been this simultaneously impressed from a visual perspective and disappointed from a storytelling viewpoint since "A Cure for Wellness." Shortly after the gripping opening, there is an absolutely enthralling scene of genocide, for lack of a better word (perhaps extermination is a more apt description) - taking place entirely in one long, wide shot, with the swelling, haunting score playing in the background, this movie almost immediately had me under its trance. Unfortunately, after those two scenes, the movie switched gears and became, basically, a prescription strength Ambien.
"The Cursed" is confusing. With such clear competency behind the camera, bizarre visual choices threaten to induce a serious case of whiplash. Through and through, the film looks fantastic - so when it doesn't, it is all the more jarring. Some scenes have a weird, ugly Vaseline sheen on them that will make you think you're watching an Asylum picture. Also, certain sequences of werewolf action are filmed with some of the worst shaky cam I've scene since "Taken 3," and I'm not even joking; at points the camera is shaking so heavily, and with such ferocity, that I wouldn't be surprised if they hired a real epileptic as cameraman. When it comes to editing, there is a large amount of fade and cut to blacks; while this isn't necessarily a negative, it became very noticeable, and thus, distracting, as practically every five minutes the movie would employ this editing technique - it's completely overused.
The quality and care of the cinematography is juxtaposed by numerous silly looking visuals and special effects. For example, when the werewolves show up, you're going to start to wish that they didn't because of how unconvincing they look. The CGI is poor, and to be blunt, they don't look scary (or even cool or unique). There is also just some cheesy looking special effects throughout, such as when one character puts on a pair of silver teeth; the movie makes an attempt to show said character act unhinged and possessed, but it just looks goofy, and in fact, people in my audience laughed.
I could go on and on about the visuals, so let's make a shift to storytelling. The story of "The Cursed" is simple enough - a werewolf curse plagues a town, and a man is sent in to deal with it (that's the long and short of it, anyhow). The trouble is, "The Cursed" moves at such a snail's pace that you will literally not care about what's happening, why it's happening, or who it's happening to. This movie is so unbelievably slow, filled with such horrendously boring conversations, that I nodded off more than I have in any movie in recent history. Another thing that took me out of the movie were the massive, and I mean astronomical, mental gymnastics that characters had to do to get to some, potentially correct, plot conclusions. For example, after finding the set of silver teeth, one character inexplicably, without explanation, believes that the silver used in the teeth is the exact same silver that was given to Judas when he betrayed Christ. What? Where did that come from? At first I thought maybe I fell asleep and missed an explanation, but toward the end of the film another character reiterates that they believe the silver is Judas' blood money. It's such a stupid, unnecessary plot point that goes exactly nowhere.
And while I'm complaining, I'd also like to say that the random scene of nudity rubbed me the wrong way. While I enjoy the female form as much as anyone, there is a completely meaningless scene where the camera lingers on the side profile of a naked woman. This scene takes up about 60 seconds or more of screen time, and serves no point; it could've absolutely been removed entirely from the film, just like the four or five dream sequences that plague this movie. Why are horror films still including dream sequences? No one likes them, they aren't interesting, and unless you're James Wan, they aren't going to be done well - and all of that is true here. There are an absurd number of boring, predictable, useless dream sequences that drive the story to a halt, depleting what little momentum the movie had going for it.
I think I'm done writing at this point; I'm hungry, tired, and sober - a horrible combination. The gist is that this movie is so disappointing because of how much competence there is behind it, but a movie can't stand on good visuals alone. "The Cursed" suffers from cheap looking special effects, poor, slow pacing, and a contrived, uninteresting plot. In conclusion, watch "Cursed" with Christina Ricci instead.